,IJ
The Princess Dehra
BY JOHN BE2D SCOTT.
CofiyTlrtt. 1*0#, by John R«c« Soott
__ ---:
'"You go too far with your
facts, dear,” she said; ‘‘I, too,
thought that every inch of the
king’s suite had been searched,
but I’ve changed my mind; it
hasn’t been—-if it had, we would
have found the laws.”—She gave
a cry and sprang up. ‘‘The box,
Armandi the box! the book’* in
it”
He looked at her in amaze
ment.
“The box was empty,” he
Wud.
“Yes—was! was! Jaut is not
now! When did you look ui it
lastt”
“At the council.”
‘"Exactly—so did T—and
Adolph brought it to ms, lid down
and ‘locked’, he said. Oh, I see
it all now:—it wasn’t locked,
and he put the book back
in it, and told Lotzen, and Lot
fcen killed him—and then, when
he came for the book, he found
the combination changed—you
did it, you know—and as long as
Moore was in the suite he could
toot break the vault; so he lures
ua all away: if he can kill you,
he will be king and can get the
book at his leisure; if he fail, as
he has done, then it’s the laws
before we return.” She flung her
arms around his neck. “Don’t
tell me I’m mistaken, Arinand!
don’t tell me I’m mistaken!”
He held her off, and looked at
her in wondering admiration.
r v ■ hi i • t i i x
vu wuiimu i lie wciiu, uii
faith, and intuition, and loyalty
beyond the stars! No, Dehra, I
will not say you are mistaken! I
do not know ; we will test it. We
Will go straight, to the palace—
you and T, without a word as to
our purpose—and we will open
the vault, and the box—and if
the laws are in it, yours be the
fclory.”
“And yours the crown!” she
oried, and kissed his hand.
Then the train ran into the
Station and stopped, and the
archduke stepped out and gave
bis hand to the princess. The
platform was empty save for
Count Epping.
“Your royal highness will
pardon the informality of your
reception,” the prime minister
■aid, when the greetings were
over; “1 assumed you did not
want Lot sen to know of your
comipg; I even waited until 9
o’clock to call the council;—
and I did not notify him, and so
Warn him that we had penetrat
ed h is disguise.”
“Where is he now?” the prin
cess asked.
“At Ferida Palace—he went
•there last night and has not left
it since.”
“J think I want him at the
tso\Hnul,” she said; “Colonel
&loore, will you and Colonel
&ernheim please go and summon
&*■»; then follow us at once; and
<lo you, my dear count, come to
**e as soon as the ministers have
assembled.”
The brougham flashed away,
and the archduke drew down the
blinds.
Dehra gave a satisfied little
■igh aud sank back in the cor
ner.
“We seem to have beaten
him,” she said; “we ihall have
Die first look into the box.”
Arm&nd put his arm around
ber, and drew the fair head to
bis shoulder. *
1 have already beaten him,
he said—-“we fought first, for
i little girl. A fig for the
j and the book and the
crown!”
At the gate of the park the
princess signaled to halt, and
Raised the blind.
■** Who of the royal council have
WTrivedt” she asked the officer
on duty.
"His royal highness the Dijkc
•t JLwtzeu, General Du-”ihe
Hot no further.
<rTo my private entrance!
vpiick, quick!” she called, and
the carriage shot away.
"“What does it meant” she de
manded; “Epping said Lotzen
had not left ** Ferida.”
“It me*- at you have
Solved th' »w.e. Lotzen has
wot come the council, he does
wot even know of it; he has come
for the book.”
They drew up at the door, the
Wrchduke opened it with Debra’s
hey, and they dashed up stairs.
She snatched a master-key from
w drawer of her writing table,
Wad they crossed the corridor and
mitered the king’s suite through
the small reception room, be
tween which and the library lay
W cabinet and a bedroom.
Aft they • entered the latter,
treading cautiously, they heard
the Duke of Lotzen’s voice in the
library, the door of which stood
ajar.
“It’s a pity to break it,” he
was saying, “but-” and there
was a‘snap and crack.
Under the archduke’s hand
the door, opened noiselessly, and
through the narrow rift, between
the hangings, they could see
within.
The duke, no longer disguised
but wearing the undress uniform
of his rank, was standing at the
large desk; beside him an offi
cer in a long cape and a cuiras
sier helmet; and before him the
big, black box of the laws. lie
had just forced the lock; now
he laid back the lid, and took out
the book.
“We win, duchess!” he said,
“we win! thanks to your mar
vellous fingers and quick brain,”
and lifiting the helmet from
Madeline Spencer’s high piled
hair, he kissed her ardently.
“Not so, cousin!” said the
princess, flinging aside the cur
ain, “you lose—it is we who
win.”
For a moment the duke stood
staring, too amazed to speak,
and Mrs. Spencer, with a sharp
cry, fled to his side; then, as he
saw the end of his dream, the
passing of his hopes, the fierce
and fiery spirit, that was always
burning deep in his soul, burst
through the gyves of studied
equanimity his stern will had im
posed.
Not yet!” he cried, “not
yeti” and turning quickly he
tossed the book into the big chim
ney behind him where a wood
fire burned.
“Come on!” he taunted, flash
ing out his sword, “come on,
cousin Armand !—there’s your
crown, come get it!”
“Look to the book, Dehra!”
the archduke called, and sprang
at Liotzen, with a joyful smile.
“At last!” he said, and the fight
began.
“Push the book farther into
the fire, Madeline!” the duke or
dered, the words timed to the
beat of the steel.
Dropping her cape Mrs. Spen
cer, with the easy hand of a
practiced fencer, whipped out
the sword she was wearing, in
her disguise as an officer, and
was speeding to obey, when
Dehra caught up one of Colonel
Moore’s swords from the corner
and rushed upon her.
“Guard yourself, duchess!”
Lotzen cried; and she swung
around just in time to throw
herself between the princess and
the fireplace. Instantly their
blades rang together.
The archduke heard, and out
of the side of his eye he saw,
and his brow wrinkled in anxie
ty. Spencer was no novice; she,
too, he knew, had learned the
gentle art of the foils in her
youth, and under French
maitres, and she was not to be
despised even by one so skilful as
the regent. He had little doubt
that he could kill the duke, but
what profit in it if Dehra died.
He hesitated to speak, it might
disconcert her, and yet he must
warn her.
“Watah her play in tierce,”
he said, in the most casual tone;
and almost shouted for joy,
when he heard Dehra’s little
laugh, and her voice calm and
easy.
Thank you. Armand!
But it very nearly cost him his
own life, for in trying to catch
a glimpse of her he had loosed
his eye-grip, and Lotzen’s point
shot out viciously, and only a
lucky swing aside sent it scrap
ing along the skin instead of
through the neck.
“Kather dose, cousin!” he re
marked.
‘‘The next will be closer,”
said the duke softly. “Mean
while, the book burns.”
But the archduke did not fall
into the trap, and loose the eye
grip a second time.
“Let it burn!” he answered,
“I’d rather kill you than save
it—but I will do both.”
“If you can, cousin! if you
can—•” and the swords rang on.
And the duke was right—the
book was burniug, slowly, but
burning none the less. His throw
had been a trifle short, and in
stead of being in the heart of the
lire it jjjas on the outer edge,
where the coals were not so glow
ing. There the leather and Metal
cover had protected it for a short
while, but now the tiny flames
were crawling along the edges,
shooting up quick pendjt of light
that flared ever higher and more
frequent.
And Dehra caught the gleam
when it flashed the brightest, and
in a fury of desire she drove at
Madeline Spencer. Hitherto she
had aimed only to disarm her,
now it was the book at any price.
But the American woman’s de
fense was still impenetrable; de
fense was her forte—trick, feint,
attack, she knew every one, and
always her sword blocked them
or turned them aside. But there
she had stopped; never once had
she herself assumed the offen
sive. She would take no chance
of killing the regent; and she had
soon discovered the regent was
not aiming to kill her. But now
she felt the change, and she knew
that it was a matter of only a lit
tle while until she would have
to yield or be aped. She could
hear Lotzen and the archduke,
at the other end of"the room, still
fighting as fiercely as at the be
ginning ;—the taunting laugh;
the quip given, and returned;
the crash of a chair as one of
them kicked it away; but all she
saw was the flitting steel before,
her, and the princess' glowing
eyes.
Of a sudden there came a burst
of voices, the door toward the
council chamber was dashed
open, and Count Epping rushed
in, and all the ministers behind
him.
Madeline Spencer drew back
and lowered her sword; the prin
cess sprang to the fire-place and
rescued the book, smothering the
flames with the hearth rug; but
Lotzen ground out an otath and
flung himself with fresh fierce
ness at the archduke.
(To Be Continued Next Week.)
♦444444444444444-4-44
4 * FREEDOM. (4
4 - ■ 4
4 London Times. 4
4 Freedom has Its own laws. It 4
4 may call us to rebel against cus- 4
4 tom and prove ourselves intract- 4
4 able to convention, $}Ut It Imposes 4
4 Its own commandments. There 4
4 Is the perfect law of liberty, and 4
4 men must obey It If they would 4
4 be free. That law comes to Its 4
4 fruition In fellowship with others 4
4 and with God. Men cannot at- 4
4 tain freedom In solitude. Liberty 4
4 must be shared. lie who resents 4
4 the claims of his fellow-men on 4
4 his time, his money, his effort. In 4
4 the desire to be free from all de- 4
4 mands but those of his own wishes 4
4 and Interests, finds himself held 4
4 captive within the narrow prison 4
4 house of his own selfishness. In 4
4 the effort to be free from duty's 4
4 claim, he has been sold to the 4
4 galling and degrading servitude of 4
4 self. 4
4- 4
44444444444444444+4
Record Sallflsh Catch.
From the Key West Citizen.
The largest sallflsh to be caught in
Florida waters this season, was captured
yesterday at the edge of the Gulf stream
about five miles from this city by Cap
tains Fred and Paul Demerltt of this
city. The captured fish weighed 91
pounds and measured 7 feet, 9 Inches.
Walksrevsr.
From the Los Angeles Times.
Bishop Rodman Armstrong said In a
Washington address:
"The party system la perhaps inevit
able. Not so a mean and rancorous
party spirit.
"A mean and rancorous partisan saw
a policeman of the opposite party con
scientiously pacing his beat in the
small hours of the night.
" 'Look at that somnambulist.' snarled
the partisan. ‘I'll have him fired'."
Pulling Himself Together.
As usual. Rastus Jefferson couldn’t
find his clothes and was pestering his
mother as to their whereabouts. Finally
his Sunday attire was complete except
for shoes and stockings. “Ma," he whim
pered, “does you all know where raah
shoes and stocking am?” ''Rastus,''
said his mother with a deadly calm, "yo'
Is the goodfemothlngest chile I ever
seen. Yo' shoes am In de kitchen and yo
stockln's Is undah de bed and yo’ fest
am on yo'. Now see If you all can min
gle them."
The postmaster at Blackwell, Okla.,
holds the record of champion twine
saver among the government's thou
sands of postal workers, who have been
cautioned to cut down requisitions by
using over again the string with which
Incoming mail is wrapped. Tower City,
Pa., put up the record that it had re
quisitioned no twine in seven years, and
this was pished aside by several others,
among them being Marshallvllle, Ga..
which carried It to 30 years. Now comes
the Oklahoma postmaster who says
elerks, carriers and charwomen work
continually and are experts at winding
up retied twine, and that they are the
twine-tylngest bunch In the United
States.
•n. moMiiuvr vi i te roresirjr service
states that near Champaign. ID., there
exists an Isolated oak grove, about three
miles long by one mile broad, and that
this is indeed a peculiar phenonvmon.
It is known as Burr Oak grove and Is
surrounded on all sides by open prairie,
being situated at a considerable dis
tance from the nearest stream, whereas
all the other forest tracts In central Illi
nois lie along the larger water ooursee.
It Is believed from the character' of
the trees In the grove that It “mi
grated" Into its position from the north
east. It lies on a large glacial moraine,
formerly, it la believed, covered with
similar trees, and has been protected
from forest fires, which have destroyed
the remainder of the wooded area, by
the water standing in the low grounds
scattered throughout the grove.
Today the most sought after things ®f
monoy value in Europe are American
bills. Nearly every outgoing ship, for
north European ports says a report from
New York, carries American paper
money most of It being $1, $2, $5 and
$10 bills. In Btrlln a premium of 65 per
cent, is being paid for American bank
notes over what is given for a New York
draft.
Workmen are carrying out repairs to
the masonry at the very summit of Big
Ben. the great Westminster clock tower
in London, which is more than 300 feet
high. A large Tudor rose recently fell
from the highest point of the spire, and
to reach the spot it was necessary to
erect a scaffold 100 feet above the high
est gallery. It was then found that five
other roses were loose, and these have
been taken down, repaired and reflxed.
TAFT'S ANNUITY OF
$10,000 IS TARGET
Socialists Demand Impeach
ment or Resignation From
High Bench.
Chicago, April 30 (A. P.)—The na
tional executive committee of the so
cialist party announced today that it
had adopted resolutions urging the
resignation or impeachment of Wil
liam Howard Taft, chief justice of the
United States, because of his con
tinued acceptance of a $10,000 annuity
from the late Andrew Carnegie.
"Said William Howard Taft has
continued to accept said annuity since
his appointment to the supreme court
of the United States,” said the reso
lution, "and tne acceptance of this
annuity coming indirectly from the
steel trust, the most powerful and
predatory corporation in the United
States, is not only unethical but a
menace to the integrity of our courts
and detrimental to the best interests
of the American people.”
The seolution concluded with a de
mand "that congress take steps to
secure his resignation or impeach
ment.”
WEIflTvISK
• i
j
Evidence Points to Murder of
Retired Attorney, Distant
Relative of Abraham
Lincoln.
Universal Service.
Aurora, 111., April 30.—Warren J.
Lincoln, retired attorney and distant
relative of Abraham Lincoln, is be
lieved to have been mysteriously
, slain and the body hidden. Evidence
of the crime was revealed early Mon
day when the Lincoln cottage was
found deserted.
After 15 hours of investigation,
here is what the authorities learned:
Mr. Lincoln retired Sunday night.
His bed was empty Monday morning,
the room in disorder and there were
indications that a body had been
dragged through the bedroom win
dow.
An Indian club, the probable in
strument of death, was found in a
green house, 300 feet from the house.
A whisky bottle wTas near the club,
both bloodstained.
Find Nightshirt, Glove.
Mr. Lincoln's nightshirt, his night
cap and a woman’s glove, tied in a
bundle, were fished from an old cis
tern.
Mr. Lincoln had separated from his
wife and brought suit for a divorce a
month ago.
Three persons were being sought
by the authorities Monday night.
They are:
Mrs. Lina Lincoln, the estranged
wife.
Byron Shoup, her brother.
A “sandy haired stranger” seetj
lurking around the green house.
Death Threats Reported.
Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln were married
in 1912, and according to neighbors,
had quarreled frequently during the
last few years. They separated last
January. Mrs. Lincoln is said to
have threatened her husband with
death if he sued for divorce. He filed
a suit a month ago charging cruelty.
Byron Shoup, her brother, had
made his home with the couple and is
said to have threatened to “beat him
up” if Mr. Lincoln sued for divorce.
The "sandy haired stranger” was
brought into the case after John
Lincoln, 20 years old, a son of Mr.
Lincoln by a previous marriage, was
taken into custody in Chicago lata
Monday. He is said to have told the
authorities about the stranger having
been seen at the green house.
Brother Discovers Crime.
Mr. Lincoln established the green
house in partnership with his broth
er, Edward, after he quit practicing
law several years ago. It was Edward
Lincoln, wrho discovered the crime
and notified the police.
The woman’s glove found in the
cistern was identified by Marie Kine,
a neighbor girl, who had taken care
of the house for Mr. Lincoln. S>he had
left it in the cottage when she quit
work Saturday night, she said.
RUSSIA DEMANDS SEAT
AT LAUSANNE GATHERING
Lausanne, April 30 (A. P.)—An of
, Octal protest against "Russia being
arbitrarily kept out of the conference'’
was sent to the Near East peace con
ference today by M. Verovsky, the
soviet representative here. He de
clared such a decision was indirect
violaticfh of the terms of the invita
tion sent to Russia by Great Britain,
France and Italy, preceding the first
Lausanne conference on November
14. 1922.
Verovsky in his protest says Rus
sia cannot accept the ultimatum of
the conference that she must sign
the convention fixing the status of
the Turkish straits before being ad
mitted to tjie conference.
SETTLEMENT SATURDAY.
Washington, April 30.—The United
States and Great Britain will reach
a final agreement on the debt settle
ment at a conference here Saturday,
Secretary of the Treasury Mellon in
dicated Monday.
JAPS SEND DELEGATES.
Tokio, April 30 (A. P.)—The Japan
league of peace has decided to send
five representatives to the Interna
tional Educational conference which
will be held in Oakland, Cal., from
June 27 to July 6.
Recent action by London music
hall managers in placing a ban on
colored jazz orchestras from the
United States should help relieve
the shortage of negro cotton field
workers In the southern states.
IN DEFENCE OF THE TRUTH
By the Rev. H. C. Hengell, Ph. D.
Reprinted, from the CapiUil Times of Madison, JFis.
In the past I have often urged, in
written articles and lectures, the sym
pathetic consideration of justice to the
worker. The conviction lias been
growing upon me recently that the
whole institution of private capital is
becoming unjustly discredited in the
mind of the public in general and of
employees in particular by the unfair
propaganda of many prominent self
styled “progressive” politicians whose
aim is to ride into power by heading
an agitation to nationalize the rail
roads and other big Industries of thq
country. Not only private capital, but
labor as well, that is to say, the whole
nation, is in need of friends and de
fenders against these unscrupulous agi*
tators, among whom are even a few
United States senators.
These agitators deceive the people
both by flattery and by partly igno
rant and partly dishonest misrepresen
tation of facts.
They flatter the dear people by pre
tending to work for the operation of
the railroads, the mines and other big
industries by the people themselves.
That seems to imply the extension of
more and more power to the people.
It Is called “progressive.”
The progressive politicians tender'
rafher dubious flattery to the people,
however, in assuming that the latter
do not perceive that the transfer of
ndustry from private owners to the
public really means the management
)f industry by the politicians. Private
capitalists have their faults, but they
are paragons of efficiency in serving
the public compared to the majority
of politicians. The latter are too lazy
t>r incompetent to care properly for
the streets and alleys of a small city
like Madison. . . .
i’utmc ownership and operation of
the railroads and of other big indus
tries would Indeed be a calamity in
America, where professional politicians
are grounded in a tradition of graft
and incompetency. If the politicians
)f today, given authority and a man
late from the people, are so grossly
incompetent In the business of gov
ernment that they cannot keep the
streets and alleys in proper order,
how can they be expected to manage
competently and economically the
greatest highways of the country, the
railroade? It is not really a question
of public or private ownership of the
railroads, but of public or private man
agement of the railroads. Under pub
lic ownership and operation the poli
ticians would do the managing, or
rather mismanaging, and the public
would be compelled to pay for the
economic waste incurred by men who
traditionally do not know or care
enough about business to run a peanut
stand successfully.
The senatorial and other demagogs
'll our American political life who are
ioveting their neighbor’s goods, are
not only attempting to flatter the peo
ple into the extravagance of public
twnership, but they are deliberately
misrepresenting the facts regarding
the railroads and other big industries.
Many of them are shameless liars in
their propaganda for a socialism in
which they hope to be dictators and
bosses. A few examples of such lying
will suffice to justify ray rather blunt
statement.
We are constantly told that the
Esch-Cummins act “guarantees” the
railroads a return of 5% per cent per
annum. Since August 31, 1920, there
has been no guaranteed return of any
per cent to any railroad In the coun
try. If, in the face of constant gov
ernmental regulation and revision of
rates and wages any railroad is so
marvelously well managed as to be
able to show a net return of 5% per
cent with which to pay interest on Its
bonds, etc., it is, under the Esch-Cum
mins act, entitled to the 5% per cent,
but no more, no matter how efficiently
it may be managed. Thus, while the
Esch-Cummins act‘limits the possible
net earnings of the railroads to a
maximum of 5% per cent, it no more
guarantees anything to the railroads
than the Volstead law guarantees one
half of one per cent alcohol to the
users of near beer.
We are further told that the rail
road stocks are largely “water” and
that the poor, long-suffering public Is
expected to guarantee 5% per cent
return to this “water.” This charge
is also false.
The physical valuation, without ref
erence to stocks or bonds (capitaliza
tion), made under the LaFollette valua
tion law of 1913, plus actual-cash in
vestments made since, less deprecia
tion, is .greater than their capitaliza
tion by millions of dollars. In other
words, there is no room for the al
leged “water” in the railroads even
under the Eighteenth amendment.
It may be true that shady deals in
over-capitalization (watering) of rail
road securities may be proved in some
notorious instances, but these cases
should be specifically named and con
demned without Involving all the rail
roads. It is unjust to make sweep
ing generalization preparing to depreci
ate the value of railroad securities to
the value of German marks, a process
which amounts to ruthless confiscation
of the property of railroad stock and
bond holders. Russian sovietism goes
no further than this.
A further lie against the railroads
that (deserves to be nailed is the
charge of excessive freight rates, of
rates so high as to rob the farmer
and other producers and the consumer
aimu,
Records show that the average
freight rates on western railroads are
only about 40 per cent higher than
they were seven years ago, while wages
are 80 per cent; taxes 90 per cent;
fuel 100 per cent higher than they
were at that time. Stories of freight
rates higher than the total price re
ceived for wheat, etc., are pure bun
combe. In January, 1923, wheat was
$1.25 a bushel at Minneapolis, that
Is, 40 cents higher than In 1913. The
freight rate from points as far as
South Dakota wras only four to five
cents higher than In 1913.
I hold no brief for the railroads
or for any other industry, but I love
fair play and detest unfair propar
gartda. I am a Catholic priest, but
1 write neither as a priest nor as a
Catholic, but as an American Citi
zen who mews with alarm the crea
tion of prejudice and flass hatred
by men and organizations, not rec
ognized as socialists or communists,
butimbuedwith the same destructive
philosophy, and pursuing the same
ruthless methods. Ignorant or ma
licious, they are endangering Amer
ican ideals of freedom of opportunity
in favor of the servile state in which
citizens in business as well as poli
tics, will be the prey of scheming
politicians.—A dvertisem ent.
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Send for free booklet
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Chicago, UL
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